Think of the residents

Although many enjoy the illuminations, once again the residents suffer because of bad planning and the ignoring of residents’ issues.

I am not a nimby and I go to the Illuminations with my children. On Sunday night my brother received a call from our 82-year-old mother to say her carer had not turned up. It turned out the carer had been refused entry by a steward because she had not got a residents’ pass. My brother and his wife had to go and feed my mother and bed her down at 10.30 at night.

I cannot decide if it is bad organisation or just incompetence by the organisers but it is not acceptable.

My neighbour tried to get to Given Street to pick his children up from the child minder and was refused entry as he didn’t have a residents’ pass. This resulted him walking and collecting his three children on foot in the rain carrying a baby and with a toddler on straps.

Whoever organises this event needs to get their act together as it is not just this event that causes chaos in the area as well as imprisoning people in their own houses.

I am sure the grass on Cliffe Park will have to be sown again due to the attractions being in place for far too long leaving large dead areas. Don’t worry it will be repaired again ready for the Airshow as it was this year.

Someone should be finding out how much this event and others events actually cost the city but as one local councillor told me “that information will be confidential”. I thought it was the taxpayers’ money.

I found the councillors and officers completely disinterested when my brother and I raised these issues and keen to make excuses.

It is a shame no one audits the misery that some of these events cause.